Method and system for establishing network connection to a hearing aid

ABSTRACT

A system, method, hearing aid and software for providing a network connection for a computer device to at least one hearing aid having a gateway to the Internet. The system includes a user account server providing a user account database, each user account includes a unique identity for an associated hearing aid; a control server providing a hearing aid connection register including the unique identity of hearing aids associated with current connection information; and a network connection handling element for detecting the presence of a wireless connection between the hearing a and gateway, and for uploading current connection information to the control server. On receiving connection information, the control server updates the hearing aid connection register, and provides the current connection information to a requesting computer device. The computer device can establish a direct connection to the hearing aid based on current connection information requested from the control server.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No.15/600,173, filed May 19, 2017, which is a continuation in part ofInternational Application No. PCT/EP2015/077205, filed Nov. 20, 2015,claiming priority based on European Patent ApplicationPCT/EP2014/075111, filed Nov. 20, 2014, the contents of all of which areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to hearing aids. The invention, moreparticularly, relates to a method for establishing network connection toa hearing aid over the Internet. Also, the invention relates to a systemfor establishing a network connection.

Hearing aid manufacturing companies design, develop and manufacturehearing instruments for distribution by independent, credentialed,licensed hearing health care professionals providing service and supportfor hearing impaired customers in compliance with all applicable state,federal and professional regulations and law.

The hearing health care professionals are an instrumental part of theprocessed selection and delivery of the hearing aids to the hearingimpaired customer because they, with their technical understanding ofthe hearing aid, and their knowledge of hearing aids and rehabilitationand supported by professional fitting tools provided by the hearing aidmanufacturing company can provide beneficial individualized fittingsolutions tailored to satisfy the needs of the individual customer.

The sales channels bringing the hearing aids from the manufacturingcompanies to the hearing impaired customer are undergoing significantstructural changes these years. We still see many specialty storesstaffed with hearing health care professionals selling and fittinghearing aids. A major challenge is that the hearing aid user has tovisit a hearing health care professional several times in order to reacha solution alleviating his hearing loss. Various attempts to provideremote fitting over the Internet have been done.

The Internet has grown to be very heterogeneous, and the lack ofInternet addresses in the IPv4 Internet protocol has led to the dynamicIP allocation when a first device is connected, and where the sameaddress may be used by a second device once the first device has beendisconnected. Another issue is that the device is often a part of alocal area network behind a firewall.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The purpose of the invention is to provide a method for establishing anetwork connection to at least one hearing aid via the Internet, wherebye.g. a hearing health care professional may retrieve data from a hearingaid and adjust settings of the hearing aid.

This purpose is according to the invention achieved by a method forproviding a network connection to at least one hearing aid via theInternet, wherein the at least one hearing aid is connected to theInternet via a gateway. The method comprises the steps of providing aplurality of user accounts in a user account server accessible over theInternet, each user account including a unique identity of associatedhearing aids; detecting the presence of a wireless connection betweenthe at least one hearing aid and the gateway; communicating the currentconnection information to a control server; providing, in the controlserver, a hearing aid connection register containing the unique identityof hearing aids and corresponding communicated current connectioninformation; requesting, from a computer device, the control server toprovide the current connection information for the at least one hearingaid by providing the associated unique identity; and establishing, fromthe computer device, a direct connection to the at least one hearing aidbased on the current connection information retrieved from the controlserver.

In one embodiment an Internet enabled personal communication device andthe at least one hearing aid are connected for establishing a wirelessconnection, whereby the personal communication device becomes a gatewayfor the at least one hearing aid to a user account server over theInternet. In one embodiment, the network connection handling element iscontained in the hearing aid and is adapted for detecting the connectionto the Internet. In another embodiment, the network connection handlingelement is contained in the personal communication device and is adaptedfor detecting the presence of the short range wireless connection to theat least one hearing aid.

When the computer device is connected to the hearing aid via thegateway, the hearing health care professional may program the at leastone hearing aid for alleviating the hearing loss. The programming maytake place during a call, e.g. a video call as provided by Skype®,between the hearing health care professional and the hearing aid user.

The user account server and the control server have two differentresponsibilities and the two servers are preferably two separateentities. Preferably, the user account server automatically updates thehearing aid connection register of the control server upon creation ofnew user accounts. As personal communication devices may access theInternet via several routes—e.g. WLAN and cellular—and consequently haveseparate IP addresses for the different routes, the hearing aidconnection register of the control server is in various embodimentsprepared for handling multiple connection information elements.

In an embodiment, a hearing healthcare professional is programming theat least one hearing aid during a fitting session by means of a computerprogram running on the computer device, wherein the computer programretrieves an unique identity for the at least one hearing aid from theuser account server retrieves the associated IP address from the hearingaid connection register administered by the control server.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a systemfor providing a network connection for a computer device to at least onehearing aid having a gateway to the Internet. The system comprises auser account server accessible over the Internet, and providing a useraccount database, each user account including an unique identity for anassociated hearing aid; a control server providing a hearing aidconnection register including the unique identity of the hearing aidsassociated with the current connection information; and a networkconnection handling element adapted for detecting the presence of awireless connection between the at least one hearing aid and thegateway, and for uploading current connection information to the controlserver. The control server is adapted for updating the connectioninformation in the hearing aid connection register when receivingcommunicated connection information, and for providing the currentconnection information to a computer device upon request. The computerdevice is adapted for establishing a direct connection to the at leastone hearing aid based on the current connection information requestedfrom the control server.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided acomputer-readable storage medium having computer-executableinstructions, which when executed on a computer device are adapted forprogramming at least one hearing aid during a fitting session undercontrol by a hearing healthcare professional. The computer-executableinstructions are adapted for launching a fitting session application onthe computer device; accessing from the fitting session application auser account server over the Internet for retrieving a user account forthe user of the at least one hearing aid to be programmed, the useraccount containing a unique identity of the at least one hearing aid;retrieving connection information for the at least one hearing aid fromthe hearing aid connection register administered by a control server;and establishing a direct connection for programming at least onehearing aid based on the connection information retrieved from thecontrol server.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention there is provided ahearing aid having a unique identity and being adapted to be connectedto a computer device via the Internet. The hearing aid comprises anetwork connection handling element being adapted to detect the presenceof a wireless connection between the hearing aid and a gateway to theInternet, and to communicating current connection information for thehearing aid to a control server. Hereby the computer device may requestthe current connection information for the hearing aid from said controlserver based on the unique identity, and establish a direct connectionto the hearing aid.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described in further detail with reference topreferred aspects and the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates schematically a system for providing a networkconnection to at least one hearing aid according to a first embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates schematically a system for providing a networkconnection to at least one hearing aid according to a second embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates schematically the data exchange in the networkconnection system according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates in further details the embodiment of the inventionshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 illustrates schematically the data structure of a user accounthandled in the network connection system according to an embodiment ofthe invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart for accessing a hearing aid over theInternet according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart for maintaining the access data for ahearing aid according to an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method for handling theestablishment of a direct connection to a hearing aid according to anembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference is made to FIG. 1, which schematically illustrates a systemfor providing a network connection for a computer device 21 to at leastone hearing aid 1 having a gateway the Internet 16, according to a firstembodiment of the invention. Prior to use, the settings of the hearingaid are set and adjusted by a hearing care professional according to aprescription. The prescription is provided by an audiologist and isbased on a hearing test, resulting in a so-called audiogram, of theperformance of the hearing-impaired user's unaided hearing. Theprescription is developed to reach a setting where the hearing aid willalleviate a hearing loss by amplifying sound at frequencies in thoseparts of the audible frequency range where the user suffers a hearingdeficit.

Hearing aids are often provided to a hearing impaired user as a set ofbinaural hearing aids 1. The set of hearing aids 1 have preferably aninter-ear communication channel based on a suitable communicationprotocol, such as the Bluetooth™ Low Energy protocol. The set of hearingaids 1 communicates preferably with the personal communication device13—here shown as a smartphone. The two hearing aids 1 are illustrated asBehind-The-Ear hearing aids having customized ear plugs. However theinvention is applicable for any type of hearing aid 1 being able tocommunicate with the personal communication device 13 via a wirelessconnection.

The personal communication device 13 according to the invention isInternet enabled which means that the personal communication device 13may access the Internet 16 via a wireless Internet connection (e.g. WLANsuch as 802.11_(a, b or g)), or a cellular data connection (e.g. WCDMAor LTE). Advantageously, the personal communication device 13 has theability to download and launch application software from an app storevia the Internet. The term “app” is short for application software,which is a set of one or more programs designed to carry out operationsfor a specific application. Application software cannot run on itselfbut is dependent on system software to execute.

A user account server 25 is accessible over the Internet and isproviding a user account database 26; each user account including aunique identity or identifier for an associated hearing aid 1.Furthermore, a control server 19 is providing a hearing aid connectionregister 19 a holding unique identities for hearing aids with associatedconnection information. The personal communication device 13, or thehearing aids 1, includes a network connection handling element 43 beingadapted for detecting the presence of the short range wirelessconnection between the at least one hearing aid 1 and said gateway. Thenetwork connection handling element 43 is adapted for uploading currentconnection information to the control server 19. In the embodiment shownin FIG. 2, the network connection handling element 43 is integrated as apart of the hearing aid 1, while the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 has thenetwork connection handling element 43 integrated as a part of thepersonal communication device 13. The control server 19 is adapted forupdating the connection information in the hearing aid connectionregister 19 a when receiving uploaded connection information. Thecontrol server 19 furthermore provides the connection information to acomputer device 21 upon request. The computer device 21 is adapted forestablishing a direct connection to the at least one hearing aid 1 basedon the connection information requested from the control server 19.

The connection information includes the current IP address of thehearing aid 1. Furthermore, the connection information may also includethe port number of the hearing aid 1, as an IP address is alwaysassociated with a port of the host. The port is the endpoint ofcommunication in the host's operating system. In some situations it maybe advantageous to identify in the connection information the protocoltype of the communication.

The data structure of the data in the user account database 26maintained by the user account server 25 is schematically illustrated inFIG. 5. The data fields of the user account are for some data fieldssynchronized with data stored in the hearing aid 1. The data set in auser account includes a personal information data field 51, whichtypically is the first data field filled out by the user when creatingan account. The personal information includes name, address andadditional contact data like phone number and e-mail address. A deliveryaddress data field 52 defines the delivery address for physical productsto be delivered to the hearing aid user. The delivery address isspecified by the owner of the account and may be identical to the homeaddress identified in the personal information data field 51, or anotherdelivery address, e.g. a preferred supermarket or retail store in casethe account is linked to a membership in a warehouse club.

In an accounting data field 53, a service provider or any authorizedhearing aid professional may enter respective service agreements and theuser may enter invoicing details, such as that an invoice is preferredor that debiting of a specified credit card is preferred. The serviceagreements may refer to a specified fitting session, a hearing test,purchase of a specified set of hearing aids, subscription to a specifiedset of hearing aids, and upgrade of an existing set of hearing aids,batteries, or replacement parts. The user has the right to approve theservice agreements and enter invoicing details, while the serviceproviders may enter service agreement details as price and conditionssupported by one or more documents and use entered invoicing details fortheir own accounting. The accounting data field 53 will only contain oneservice agreement, and if several service agreements are initiated,supplementing accounting data fields 53 will be created. Only parties toa service agreement are granted Data Retrieval Rights to these datafields 53.

In a social security data field 54, the user may enter his birthdayinformation and social security number, which may be used by the socialauthorities in cases these are committed to pay a part of the salesprize or subscription fees.

When the authorized hearing healthcare professional or audiologist teststhe hearing of a client, he obtains the results in an audiogram, whichis a graph showing the hearing loss measured in decibels forstandardized frequencies in Hertz. The threshold of hearing is plottedrelative to a standardized curve that represents “normal” hearing, in dB(HL). The authorized hearing aid professional may store the hearing losscharacterization in a dedicated Hearing Loss Characterization data field56, whereby the authorized hearing aid professional or anotherauthorized hearing aid professional at a later point of time may assesschanges in the hearing capability of the client.

When the authorized hearing aid professional has determined the hearingloss of his client and an appropriate hearing aid has been chosen, theauthorized hearing aid professional sets the hearing aid compensationprofile parameters (fitting) in an interactive dialogue with the client.Once the fitting has been completed, the settings are stored in thehearing aid and afterward synchronized with a data field 55 in the useraccount containing the settings for alleviating Hearing Loss.

For each user account there is provided a data field 57 containingsecurity elements as credentials for accessing one or more data fieldsin the hearing aid user account and secure keys for establishing asecure connection between the computer device 21 and the at least onehearing aid 1. The hearing aid user may by means of the stored securityelements edit credentials via a web-interface. The user account managermay by means of certificates control persons allowed to Read and Editdata in the user account and thereby in the hearing aid 1, and thehearing user may delegate these rights to third parties.

Finally the hearing aid account includes a data field 58 identifyingeach of the hearing aids 1 associated with the account, the hearing aids1 being identified by manufacturer, hearing aid model, serial number,and software version. The unique identity for the hearing aid 1 isstored as an element in the data field 58.

Referring to FIG. 2, it is seen that the hearing aid 1 comprises aninput transducer 35 or microphone for picking up the acoustic sound andconverting it into electric signals. The electric signals from the inputtransducer 35 are amplified and converted into a digital signal in aninput stage 36. The digital signal is fed to a Digital Signal Processor37 (DSP) being a specialized microprocessor with its architectureoptimized for the operational needs of the digital signal processingtask, i.e. for carrying out the amplification and conditioning accordingto a predetermined setting in order to alleviate a hearing loss byamplifying sound at frequencies in those parts of the audible frequencyrange where the user suffers a hearing deficit. The output from theDigital Signal Processor 37 is fed to an output stage 38 forreproduction by an output transducer 39 or speaker. The output stage 38may apply Delta-Sigma-conversion to the digital signal for forming aone-bit digital data stream fed directly to the output transducer 39,the output stage thereby operating as a class D amplifier.

The hearing aid 1 has a processor 40 being a processing and control unitcarrying out instructions of a computer program by performing thelogical, basic arithmetric, control and input/output (I/O) operationsspecified by the instruction in the programs. The processor 40 includesan inherent volatile memory requiring power to maintain the storedinformation. The processor 40 is further connected to a non-volatilememory 42 which retains stored information even when not powered.Furthermore, the hearing aid 1 has a transceiver 41 for establishing awireless connection to a gateway to the Internet 16. This gateway may bethe personal communication device 13, a router (e.g. WLAN) in privatedomain, or a hotspot in a public domain. A hotspot is a physicallocation that offers Internet access over a wireless local area network(WLAN) through the use of a router connected to a link to an Internetservice provider. Hotspots typically use Wi-Fi technology.

In this embodiment the hearing aid 1 comprises a network connectionhandling element 43 stored as a software program in the non-volatilememory 42. The network connection handling element 43 detects when a newnetwork connection to the hearing 1 has been established—e.g. aconnection to a hotspot or to a router at home, and when the currentInternet address has been identified, the network connection handlingelement 43 transmits a connection information notification 30 over theInternet 16 to the control server 19. The address of the control server19 may advantageously be preprogrammed into the network connectionhandling element 43. The connection information notification 30 links aunique identity for the hearing aid 1 to its current connectioninformation. The transmission of the connection information notification30 is trigged by an event, e.g. a connection being established via agateway to the Internet. Hereby the control server 19 is able tomaintain its hearing aid connection register 19 a as a look-up table inwhich the unique identity for the hearing aid 1 may be translated to thecurrent connection information for the network connection handlingelement 43 and thereby the hearing aid 1.

The Internet is adapted to relay datagrams across network boundariesbased on the Internet Protocol (IP). The routing function according tothe Internet protocol enables internetworking, and essentiallyestablishes the Internet. The Internet Protocol has the task ofdelivering packets from the source host to the destination host solelybased on the IP addresses in the packet headers. For this purpose, theInternet Protocol defines packet structures that encapsulate the data tobe delivered. It also defines addressing methods that are used to labelthe datagram with both source and destination IP addresses. When sendingthe connection information notification 30, the current connectioninformation of the network connection handling element 43 is present assource address of the data packet embodying the connection informationnotification 30, and the unique identity for the hearing aid 1 iscontained in the data packet. The control server 19 extracts these twoelements and updates a hearing aid connection register 19 a accordingly.

The network connection handling element 43 serves several purposes—itmonitors status of the hearing aid's connectivity, handles sessionsecurity, and notifies the current connection information to the hearingaid connection register 19 a. The network connection handling element 43is embedded into the hearing aid before it leaves the factory, and someelements may be stored in the non-volatile memory 42 and some elementsas security elements and certificates in a non-editable memory.

When a hearing care professional needs to adjust the setting of aspecific hearing aid user's hearing aid 1, he may via the computerdevice 21 access the specific hearing aid user's user account from theuser account server 25 from where he may retrieve the unique identityfor the at least one hearing aid 1 in question. Preferably the fittingsoftware running on the computer device 21 automatically sends aconnection information request 31 from the account based on the uniqueidentity for the at least one hearing aid 1 in question to the controlserver 19. Based upon a look-up in the hearing aid connection register19 a, the control server 19 responds to the connection informationrequest 31 by sending a connection information response 32 containingthe current Internet address of the at least one hearing aid 1 based onthe unique identity stored in the user account.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the computer device 21 then starts to set upa direct connection 33 preferably using UDP (User Datagram Protocol)hole punching (used for setting up connections between Internet hosts inprivate networks using network address translators) for establishing abidirectional UDP connection. The computer device 21 sends a directconnection set-up request 33 a to the network connection handlingelement 43, and if the hearing aid 1 is still on-line, the networkconnection handling element 43 confirms the request by sending a directconnection set-up confirmation 33 b. Hereafter, the computer device 21and the network connection handling element 43 start to exchangepayloads in a bi-directional data packet exchange or direct connectionoperation 33 c. The payload may include data for upload from the hearingaid 1, such as logging data and settings, and download of data to thehearing aid 1, such as adjusted settings for the hearing losscorrection, instructions for enabling or disabling features in thehearing aid 1, and instructions for configuring the hearing aid 1. Thecomputer device 21 disconnects the direct connection by sending a directconnection termination instruction 33 d to the network connectionhandling element 43 once the data packets have been successfullyexchanged.

FIG. 4 illustrates in further details the embodiment of the inventionshown in FIG. 1. The hearing aid 1 comprises the input transducer 35 forpicking up the acoustic sound and converting it into electric signalsbeing amplified and converted into a digital signal in the input stage36. The digital signal is fed to the Digital Signal Processor 37 inwhich the amplification and conditioning is carried out according to thepredetermined setting in order to alleviate a hearing loss by amplifyingsound at frequencies in those parts of the audible frequency range wherethe user suffers a hearing deficit. The output from the Digital SignalProcessor 37 is via the output stage 38 fed to the output transducer 39for reproduction.

The processor 40 is connected to the non-volatile memory 42 and to thetransceiver 41 for establishing a wireless connection to a gateway tothe Internet 16. This gateway may be the personal communication device13.

The personal communication device 13 is according the present embodimenta smartphone. The personal communication device 13 includes a processor46 controlling the operation of audio elements 48 (like a speaker and amicrophone) and user interface (UI) elements 47 (like a touch screen orkeys and a display). Furthermore the processor 46 controls the operationof a long range radio 45 serving various mobile communication standardsand WLAN standards connecting the personal communication device 13 tothe Internet 16.

A short range radio 44 connects the personal communication device 13 tothe hearing aid 1 by means of the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol. Thepersonal communication device 13 has memory 49 (e.g. EEPROM)—in which ahearing aid control app 50 is stored. The personal communication device13 is adapted to present the hearing aid control app 50 on a touchscreen to the hearing aid user. The hearing aid control app 50 isadapted to offer control elements for the operation of the hearing aid.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the hearing aid control app 50 of thepersonal communication device 13 hosts the network connection handlingelement 43. The transceiver 41 may establish competing Internetconnections, e.g. via the cellular network and via a public hotspot or arouter at home. The network connection handling element 43 identifiesthe current connection information for the Internet connectionsidentified. The network connection handling element 43 detects thepresence of the short range communication channel between the personalcommunication device 13 and the hearing aid 1; and the long rangecommunication channel from the personal communication device 13 to theInternet 16.

When the short range communication channel and long range communicationchannel both are present, the network connection handling element 43transmits a connection information notification 30 as shown in FIG. 3over the Internet 16 to the control server 19 whose IP address may bepreprogrammed into the network connection handling element 43. Theconnection information notification 30 provides the unique identity forthe hearing aid 1 linked to the current connection information.

The transmission of the connection information notification 30 istrigged by an event, i.e. both the short range communication channel andlong range communication channel becoming present. Hereby the controlserver 19 is able to maintain its hearing aid connection register 19 aas a look-up table in which the unique identity for the hearing aid 1may be translated to the current connection information of the networkconnection handling element 43. The connection information in hearingaid connection register 19 a for a unique identity for the hearing aid 1may be prioritized according to data bandwidth or data pricing, andthese information may be provided by the personal communication device13.

The network connection handling element 43 serves several purposes—itmonitors status of the hearing aid's connectivity, handles sessionsecurity, and notifies the current connection information to a hearingaid location register 19 a. The network connection handling element 43may be downloaded to the personal communication device 13 from an appstore and stored in a memory of the personal communication device 13.

When a hearing care professional or a monitoring server needs toexchange or collect data from the hearing aid 1, the specific hearingaid user's user account may be accessed in the user account server 25from where the unique identity for the at least one hearing aid 1 inquestion may be retrieved. Preferably, the program handling the dataexchange and retrieving the unique identity for the hearing aid 1automatically sends the connection information request 31 to the controlserver 19, and sets up the direct connection 33, preferably using UDPhole punching, to the network connection handling element 43 based onthe connection information response 32 from the hearing aid connectionregister 19 a. The direct connection 33 is handled as described withreference to FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method for accessing a hearing aid 1over the Internet 16 according to an embodiment of the invention. Anentity, e.g. a computer (M2M—“machine-to-machine”—data consolidation) ora hearing care professional via a computer 21, intending to connect tothe hearing aid 1, accesses in step 60 the user account database 26. Ifthe entity is permitted to connect to the hearing aid 1, the entity isin step 61 able to retrieve the unique identity of the hearing aid 1from the user account. In step 62, the entity sends the connectioninformation request 31 containing the unique identity of the hearing aid1 to the hearing aid connection register 19 a, and receives the currentconnection information of the hearing aid 1 in response. In step 63, theentity sets up the direct connection 33 from a computer 21, preferablyusing UDP hole punching, to the network connection handling element 43in the hearing aid 1 or in the personal communication device 13connected to the hearing aid 1. In step 64, the entity terminates thedirect connection when the exchange of data has been completedsuccessfully.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of a method for maintaining the accessdata for a hearing aid 1 according to an embodiment of the invention. Instep 71, the network connection handling element 43 detects the presenceof a connection to the Internet 16 from the hearing aid 1, or detectsthe presence of a connection to the Internet 16 from the personalcommunication terminal 13 and a short range connection to the hearingaid 1.

When sending the connection information notification 30 in step 72, thecurrent connection information of the network connection handlingelement 43 is present as source address of the data packet and theunique identity for the hearing aid 1 is contained in the data packet.The control server 19 extracts these two elements and updates a hearingaid connection register 19 a accordingly.

These steps are repeated every time the network connection handlingelement 43 detects a change in the connection information for thehearing aid 1.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method for handling theestablishment of the direct connection to the hearing aid 1 according toan embodiment of the invention. When the network connection handlingelement 43 in step 73 receives a request for setting up a directconnection 33 a, it starts verifying the validity of the connection instep 74. This may include verification of certificates. If the validityof the connection has been verified, the network connection handlingelement 43 confirms the establishment of the direct connection 33 instep 75.

In step 76, the computer 21 communicates to the network connectionhandling element 43 which kind of data has to be exchanged—upload oflogging data, download of settings etc. In step 77, the data requestedare exchanged, and in step 78, data are handled as prescribed. Newsettings may overwrite earlier settings in the hearing aid 1, andlogging registers may be reset if their content has been uploaded. Whenthe data have been exchanged and handled successfully, the directconnection session is terminated in step 79.

1. A system for managing a remote hearing care session facilitated by ahearing professional and including remote access to at least one hearingaid of a hearing aid user, and comprising: a hearing aid connectionregister provided on an internet-based server, the hearing aidconnection register includes for each hearing aid a unique identity anda current connection information, wherein the hearing aid connectionregister is adapted for: updating the connection information whenreceiving communicated connection information from a hearing aid, andproviding the current connection information to a computer device uponrequest; wherein the at least one hearing aid contains a networkconnection handling element adapted for: detecting the presence of awireless connection via a gateway to the internet, and uploading currentconnection information to the hearing aid connection register when thewireless connection has been detected; and a computer device operated bythe hearing professional and being adapted for: setting up the remotecare session by requesting the hearing aid connection register toprovide the current connection information for the at least one hearingaid, and establishing a connection to the at least one hearing aid basedon the current connection information; and providing remote access toand adjustment of at least one hearing aid in the remote hearing caresession facilitated by the hearing professional; wherein the networkconnection handling element is adapted for handling security of theremote hearing care session.
 2. The system according to claim 1, whereinthe computer device is adapted for setting up a direct connection usingUDP (User Datagram Protocol) hole punching for establishing abidirectional UDP connection.
 3. The system according to claim 1, andfurther comprising a user account database provided on an internet-basedserver, the user account database includes for each hearing aid user anindication of at least one hearing aid by means of a unique identity forthe at least one hearing aid.
 4. The system according to claim 1,wherein the network connection handling element is stored as softwarecode in a hearing aid memory and run as a program by a hearing aidprocessor.
 5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the connectioninformation of the hearing aid connection register is pre-programmedinto the network connection handling element.
 6. The system according toclaim 1, wherein the network connection handling element is adapted fortransmitting the current connection information to the hearing aidconnection register when triggered by an event, including one offollowing: establishing a connection via a gateway to the Internet, orreconnecting to a smartphone via Bluetooth.
 7. The system according toclaim 1, wherein the computer device is adapted for adjusting thesettings for alleviating the hearing loss in the at least one hearingaid.
 8. A system for managing a remote hearing care session facilitatedby a hearing professional and including remote access to at least onehearing aid of a hearing aid user, and comprising: a hearing aidconnection register provided on an internet-based server, the hearingaid connection register includes for each hearing aid a unique identityand a current connection information, wherein the hearing aid connectionregister is adapted for: updating the connection information whenreceiving communicated connection information from a hearing aid, andproviding the current connection information to a computer device uponrequest; a network connection handling element in said at least onehearing aid adapted for: detecting the presence of a wireless connectionvia a gateway to the internet, and uploading current connectioninformation to the hearing aid connection register when the wirelessconnection has been detected; a computer device operated by the hearingprofessional and being adapted for: setting up the remote care sessionby requesting the hearing aid connection register to provide the currentconnection information for the at least one hearing aid, andestablishing a connection to the at least one hearing aid based on thecurrent connection information; and providing remote access to andadjustment of at least one hearing aid in the remote hearing caresession facilitated by the hearing professional; and a user accountdatabase provided on an internet-based server, the user account databaseincluding for each hearing aid user an indication of at least onehearing aid by means of a unique identity for the at least one hearingaid, and wherein the user account database and hearing aid connectionregister are provided in two separate servers.
 9. The system accordingto claim 3, wherein the user account server is adapted for automaticallyupdating the hearing aid connection register upon creation of new useraccounts.
 10. The system according to claim 1, wherein the hearing aidconnection register is adapted mapping the unique identity to an IPaddress and port number.
 11. A method of managing a remote hearing caresession facilitated by a hearing professional and including remoteaccess to at least one hearing aid of a hearing aid user, wherein the atleast one hearing aid contains a network connection handling element,and wherein a computer device is operated by the hearing professional,the method comprising: providing a hearing aid connection register on aninternet-based server, the hearing aid connection register including foreach hearing aid a unique identity and a current connection information,updating the current connection information when receiving currentconnection information from a hearing aid, providing the currentconnection information to a computer device upon request detecting, bymeans of the network connection handling element, the presence of awireless connection from the at least one hearing aid via a gateway tothe internet, uploading current connection information from the at leastone hearing aid to the hearing aid connection register when the wirelessconnection has been detected, setting up the remote care session fromthe computer device by requesting the hearing aid connection register toprovide the current connection information for the at least one hearingaid, establishing a connection from the computer device to the at leastone hearing aid based on the current connection information; providingremote access to and adjustment of at least one hearing aid in theremote hearing care session facilitated by the hearing professional; andproviding a user account database on an internet-based server, whereinthe user account database includes for each hearing aid user anindication of at least one hearing aid by means a unique identity forthe at least one hearing aid, wherein the user account database andhearing aid connection register are maintained in two separate servers.12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the setting up the remotecare session includes setting up a direct connection using UDP (UserDatagram Protocol) hole punching for establishing a bidirectional UDPconnection.
 13. The method according to claim 11, and further comprisinga step of providing a user account database on an internet-based server,wherein the user account database includes for each hearing aid user anindication of at least one hearing aid by means a unique identity forthe at least one hearing aid.
 14. The method according to claim 11, andfurther comprising handling security of the remote hearing care sessionby means of the network connection handling element.
 15. The methodaccording to claim 14, and further comprising steps of: transmitting thecurrent connection information from the network connection handlingelement to the hearing aid connection register when trigged by an event,including one of following: establishing a connection via a gateway tothe Internet, or reconnecting to a smartphone via Bluetooth.
 16. Themethod according to claim 11, and further comprising a step ofalleviating the hearing loss in the at least one hearing aid in remotehearing care session facilitated by the hearing professional.
 17. Themethod according to claim 11, and further comprising automaticallyupdating the hearing aid connection register upon creation of new useraccounts in the user account database.
 18. The method according to claim11, and further comprising mapping the unique identity to an IP addressand port number in the hearing aid connection register.